Method and apparatus for attaching and removing envelopes and the like from a carrier web



May 14, 1968 A. H WELCH 3,383,254

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ATTACHING AND REMOVING ENVELOPES AND THE} LIKEFROM A CARRIER WEB Filed March 25, 1964 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.ARCH/BALD H. WELCH M,Wd

ATTO NEYS FIG.

3,383,264 VELOPES May 14, 1968 A. H. WELCH METHOD AND APPARATUS FORATTACHING AND REMOVING EN AND THE LIKE FROM A CARRIER WEB Filed March25, 1964 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 H R6 5 0L TE N mw R V & NH T I T D A L.

BY My May 14, 1968 A. H. WELCH 3,383, 64

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ATTACHING AND REMOVING ENVELOPES AND THE LIKEFROM A CARRIER WEB Filed March 25, 1964 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.ARCH/BALD H. WEL Ch A. H. WELCH May 14, 1968 METHOD AND APPARATUS FORATTACHING AND REMOVING ENVELOPES AND THE LIKE FROM A CARRIER WEB 6Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed March 25, 1964 INVENTOR. ARCH IBALD H WELCH WWW/M7?ATTORNEYS y QOOOOOOOOORvOQ 3,383,264 VELOPES A. H. WELCH May 14, 1968METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ATTACHING AND REMOVING EN AND THE LIKE FROM ACARRIER WEB 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed March 25, 1964 United States Patent3,383,264 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ATTACHING AND REMOVING ENVELOPES ANDTHE LIKE FROM A CARRIER WEB Archibald H. Welch, Branford, Conn.,assignor to Converters Incorporated, Hartford, Conn., a corporation ofConnecticut Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 272,185, Apr. 8,1963. This application Mar. 25, 1964, Ser. No. 354,645

22 Claims. (Cl. 156-247) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method of adheringenvelopes to a carrier web for use in addressing, etc., the envelopesand for subsequently removing the envelopes from the carrier web formailing, comprising the steps of spraying upwardly into a pathintersecting the horizontal path of movement of the envelopes an aqueousdispersion of a polyvinyl chloride thermoplastic adhesive so as to applya film of the adhesive onto discrete areas of the envelopes; feeding theenvelopes onto the carrier web to bring the applied adhesive film intocontact with the carrier web; heatir'ig the applied film for assistingin drying the dispersion and making the adhesive tacky; pressing theenvelopes and carrier web together and thereby securely bondtheehvelopes to the carrier web'to form a composite product thereof; andsubsequently feeding the composite envelope and carrier web productalong an elongated path; heating the applied adhesive of the compositeproduct as? it is fed along the elongated path for facilitatingreleasing the thermoplastic adhesive bond, and successively detachingthe envelopes from the carrier web.

Apparatus for detaching the envelopes from the composite envelope andcarrier web product is shown in FIG- URES 5-7 and comprises a pair oflaterally adjustable parallel rails for guiding the composite productalong an elongated path and a pair of motor driven rollers for feedingthe composite product along the rails. The rails have heating elementsfor heating the applied adhesive as the composite product is fed alongthe rails and a guide is provided for deflecting the carrier webdownwardly at the forward end of the rails for permitting the envelopesto separate from the carrier web and to be fed by the rollers into acollector.

The present invention relates to the conveying of envelopes and the likein succession, as for example for automatic machine printing such asaddressing, through the use of a carrier web and is more particularlyconcerned with the attaching of envelopes and the like onto and removingthem from a carrier web. This application is a continuation-in-partapplication of my copending application entitled, Envelope AttachingMachine, Ser. No. 272,185, filed Apr. 8, 1963, now US. Patent No.3,200,- 719, which in turn is a continuation of and was co-pending withmy application, Ser. No. 93,214, filed Mar. 3, 1961, now abandoned.

Information storage devices and high-speed printers capable oftranslating the stored information into printed form have become usefuland economical tools for the automatic printing, for example addressingand/or tabulating, of envelopes. Such automatic printing howeverconventionally requires individual and successive feeding of theenvelopes through the printer preferably at a high rate of speed formaximum economy of equipment and operator time. For this reason acarrier sheet or web to which the envelopes are attached to form acomposite envelope and carrier web product has been found useful in theconveying of the envelopes through the printer. For

3,383,264 Patented May 14, 1968 example, a type of composite envelopeand carrier web product heretofore used for the automatic addressing ofenvelopes is disclosed in United States Patent No. 2,723,- 077 datedNov. 8, 1955 and entitled Continuous Envelopes. M

It is a principal aim of the present invention to provide an improvedmethod of attaching paper blanks, such as envelopes, onto a carrier weband of subsequently removing the paper blanks from the carrier web whichis adapted for high speed attaching and removal, which provides acomposite product useful in theprinting of the paper blanks withpresently available machines, and which has notable utility in theattachment and removal of paper blanks not specially constructed for usein the method of the present invention.

It is another aim of the present invention to provide a method forattaching conventional envelopes onto and for removing them from thecarrier web without blemishes marring the quality or appearance of theenvelopes.

It is another aim of the present invention to provide an apparatus fordetaching envelopes and the like from the carrier web in accordance withthe method of the present invention which provides for removing theenvelopes from the carrier web at a high rate of speed and withoutobjectionable scarring of the envelopes.

It is a further aim of the present invention to provide an envelopedetaching apparatus of economical and compact construction, which isuseful by the unskilled and which is adapted for either intermittent orsubstantially continuous operation.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide animproved method for attaching envelopes or the like to a carrier webwhich are of the type having end flaps or ears with lines ofperforations provided for subsequently severing the envelope panels fromthe carrier web as described in the aforementioned United States PatentNo. 2,723,077. Included in this object is a method of attaching theenvelope side flaps onto the carrier web which ensures that theenvelopes are securely retained on the carrier web during the subsequenthandling of the composite envelope and carrier web product, which isuseful in high speed attaching of the envelopes onto the carrier web andwhich ensures that upon severing of the envelope panels from the carrierweb such is accomplished along the lines of perforations and withoutportions of the side flaps remaining with the panels.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more indetail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will beexemplified in the construction hereafter set forth, and the scope ofthe application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal top plan view, partly broken away, of anapparatus for attaching envelopes to a carrier web in accordance withthe present invention;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are enlarged longitudinal section views, partly brokenaway, of portions of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of a composite envelope and carrierweb product produced in accordance with the present invention andshowing alternative ways of securing the envelope panels to the carrierWeb;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal top plan view, partly broken away and partly insection, of an apparatus shown diagrammatically in part for removing theenvelopes from the carrier web in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged longitudinal section view, partly broken away,taken substantially along line 6-6 of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a transverse section view, partly broken away and partly insection, taken substantially along line 7-7 of FIG. 6.

Several developments have been employed for the application of envelopesto a carrier web. One such development disclosed in the aforementionedUnited States Patent No. 2,723,077 consists of a pair of supplementalend flaps formed integrally with the envelope panels for attaching theenvelopes to the carrier web and which are provided with suitable linesof perforations for subsequent severance of the envelope panels from thecarrier web. Another such development is disclosed in United StatesPatent No. 2,691,327, dated Oct. 12, 1954 and entitled EnvelopeAssembling Apparatus. This development provides for forming a series ofloops in a pair of spaced carrier tapes and for inserting the ends ofthe envelopes under these loops for attachment of the envelopes to thetapes. A third such development is disclosed in United States Patent No.2,363,417, dated Nov. 21, 1944 and entitled Method of and Apparatus forMaking Zig-Zag Folded Assemblies of Series-Connected Envelopes. Thisdevelopment provides for applying an even coating of adhesive to thefront face of the envelope and thereby attach the envelope to thecarrier web. For subsequently detaching the envelope, the carrier web isprovided with suitable severance lines for separating that portion ofthe carrier web adhering to the front face of the envelope and whichthereafter remains a part of the detched envelope.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-3 of the drawings, attachment of envelopes to acarrier web in accordance with the method of the present invention isaccomplished in conjunction with the conveyance of a succession of theenvelopes onto a carrier web or sheet 12 (FIG. 2) conventionallyconstructed of paper. With the illustrated machine of FIGS. 1-3, whichis disclosed and described in more detail in my copending applicationSer. No. 272,185, the envelopes are fed by a conveyor, generally denotedby the numeral 14, along an elongated horizontal path with the envelopesarranged in longitudinal alignment with the envelope panels extendingtransversely of their direction of movement. As fully described in thecopending application Ser. No. 272,185, the conveyor 14 includes a chainconveyor portion 16 having a plurality of pairs of upstanding fingers 18engageable with the trailing edges of successive envelopes, and a secondconveyor portion 20 which includes a plurality of drive rollers 22-24and cooperating spring mounted backup wheels 28.

The envelopes proceed forwardly from these drive rollers and backupwheels to between a carrier sheet guide roller 25 and its cooperatingbackup wheels 28 where the envelopes make initial contact with thecarrier sheet 12. The carrier sheet and envelopes are thereafterconveyed together forwardly over a horizontal platform 32, to between apressure roller 26 and its cooperating backup wheels 28 and to between apair of cooperating wheels 36, 38, the latter of which is provided withperipheral teeth 39 for punching holes along the edges of the carriersheet.

Located longitudinally intermediate the drive wheels 23, 24 and slightlybelow the path of travel of the envelopes are a pair of transverselyspaced nozzles 40 which are mounted for being adjusted to lateralpositions with respect to the ends of the envelope panels. The nozzles40 are suitably connected for continuously spraying an adhesive duringthe operation of the conveyor whereby the adhesive is sprayed along thefull longitudinal width of the envelopes as they are conveyed betweenthe drive rollers 23, 24 and therefore just prior to the feeding of theenvelopes onto the carrier sheet 12. The adhesive is sprayed upwardly bythe nozzles 40 into jets of atomized adhesive for which purpose a liquidadhesive with a low viscosity is desirable. With the continuous sprayingof the adhesive during the operation of the envelope conveyor, a lightfilm of adhesive is applied on discrete areas of the envelope panels instripes with the amount, of adhesive being minimal and graduallydiminishing or feathering from a maximum concentration at the center ofthe stripes to their lateral rather undefined edges. For example,stripes of adhesive of about wide can be applied by the described methodwith feathered edges of intermittent dots of the adhesive.

Where the envelopes are constructed with side flaps 41 as shown in FIG.4, the liquid adhesive may usefully be a dispersion of a plasticadhesive in water and be sprayed onto the end flaps as the envelopespass over the transversely spaced nozzles within the lateral confines ofthe longitudinally extending lines of perforations 43 forming the linesof severance between the end flaps and the envelope panels and the outerlateral edges of the end flaps.

In accordance with the preferred usage of the method of the presentinvention the envelopes are of conventional construction without thesupplementary end flaps, in which instance the stripes of adhesive areapplied directly to the envelope panels preferably adjacent the lateraledges of the envelopes, as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 4, wherebythere is little or no application of the adhesive to the sealing fiapsof the envelope notwithstanding whether the sealing flaps be fullyextended, or folded into contiguous relationship with the envelopepanels as seen in FIG. 4.

Where envelopes of conventional construction are employed the liquidadhesive utilized is preferably an aqueous dispersion of a thermoplasticmaterial with the adhesive/water ratio being sufficient to provideeffective atomization thereof by the nozzles 40.

It has been found that with the use of water as the adhesive carrier,the absorption rate of the adhesive by the envelope does not preclude aportion of the adhesive from adhering, as by absorption, to the carriersheet even when only a very light film of the dispersion is sprayed ontothe envelope panels. This is considered to be due in part to therelatively low rate of absorption of water by the usual envelope paper.Accordingly, with appropriate selection of the adhesive and the carriersheet the adhesive dispersion will adhere to the carrier sheet and thecarrier sheet will function in part to limit the adhesive absorption bythe envelopes while at the same time the adherence of both members willbe adequate to secure the envelopes to the carrier web for subsequenthandling of the composite envelope and carrier sheet product.

Because of the continuous operation of the conveyor 14 and the shortinterval of time between the application of the adhesive to theunderside of each envelope and the initial contact of the envelope withthe carrier web, the adhesive applied to the envelopes will besufiiciently wet upon contact with the carrier web for adequatelyadhering the envelopes to the carrier web. This time interval ispreferably held to a minimum and, of course, is a function of the speedof the envelope conveyor and the distance between the nozzles 40 and theplace of initial contact of the envelopes with the carrier web. Forexample, it has been found that a time interval of less than one secondand approximately one-third of a second provides highly successfulresults.

After feeding the envelopes onto the carrier web, the carrier web andenvelopes travel together over the horizontal supporting platform 32first passing beneath a pair of backup wheels 28 and thereafter beneatha pair of sealing assemblies 41 transversely adjustable by a screw 42for appropriate alignment with the applied stripes of adhesive on theenvelopes. Each sealing assembly is provided with a hold-down wheel 44positioned inwardly of the line of adhesive and mounted on an arm 46 forpivotal movement about a pin 48 in response to the varying thickness ofthe composite web and envelope product. The force exerted by thehold-down wheel is provided by a compression spring 50 with the bias ofthe spring being adjustable with a handle 52. Each sealing assembly 41also includes a heating shoe 54 pivotally mounted above the platform toa support 56 which is vertically reciprocable and urged downwardly by anarr cylinder 57 to force the heating shoe against the envelopes andthereby simultaneously heat the applied adhesive and press the envelopesinto contact with the carrier web. The heating shoes are aligned withthe lines of adhesive and are maintained at a temperature adequate toassist in evaporating the liquid carrier of the adhesive and therebymake the adhesive sufficiently tackly for adhering the envelopes to thecarrier web. Concomitant with the formation of this preliminary bondbetween the envelopes and carrier web the heating shoes function tosqueeze the adhesive between the envelopes and carrier web and therebyminimize the thickness of the adhesive film and increase the absorptionof the adhesive. This application of pressure by the heating shoes isfollowed by a secondary application of pressure by the pressure roller26 and its cooperating backup wheels 28 which are adapted for transverseadjustment into alignment with the lines of adhesive.

With the envelopes thereby securely attached to the carrier web, thecomposite envelope and carrier web product can be suitably folded inzig-zag or aceordian fashion as described in the aforementioned pendingUnited States application Ser. No. 272,185 for handling prior to itsbeing fed through an appropriate printing machine for addressing theenvelopes.

Subsequent to the printing operation, the envelopes are separated fromthe carrier web. When the envelopes are constructed with side flaps 41the separating of the envelopes from the carrier web may be accomplishedby a suitable stripping device through which the composite envelope andcarrier web product is fed, the envelopes being appropriately engagedfor tearing the envelope panels from the side flaps along the lines ofperforations 43. Inasmuch as the stripes of adhesive have been appliedalong the full longitudinal length of the flaps 41, the flaps aresecured to the carrier web even at their leading edges with resultingtearing along the lines of perforations being ensured and thereforewithout portions of the side flaps remaining with the envelope panels.

With the use of conventional envelopes, the envelopes can besuccessively and individually detached from the carrier web by thedetaching apparatus of FIGS. 5-7, denoted generally by the numeral 70,through which the composite envelope and carrier web product is fed, asby a motor 72 shown diagrammatically in FIG. 5, or alternatively aswhere smaller quantities of envelopes are intermittently processed by asuitable manually operable crank (not shown).

The detaching apparatus 70 includes a pair of spaced elongated rails 74mounted on a frame 75 with the rails each having a pair of spacedparallel guides 76, 78 with opposed bearing surfaces 80, 82 which, forexample, may be constructed of fiberglass impregnated with Teflon forproviding durable, low friction surfaces. The

guides 76, 78 define coplanar elongated passages which receive the edgeportions of the composite envelope and carrier web product, as seen inFIG. 4, preferably with the stripes of adhesive aligned centrally of theguides. For this purpose the mounting brackets 86 for the rails are madetransversely adjustable on the frame '75 (FIG. 5) and may be providedwith laterally adjustable shoes 87 (FIG. 7) engageable with the lateraledges of the composite envelope and carrier web product.

For inserting the composite envelope and carrier web product into thedetaching apparatus, the composite product is manually fed through therails to between a drive roller 90 and a backup Wheel 92 which arerotatably mounted in upstanding stanchions 94 of the frame 75. The driveroller 90 is provided with an external layer 96 of resilient material,such as rubber, whereby a carrier sheet and an envelope passing betweenthe roller and backup wheel are suitably engaged for being forwardlydriven by the roller. As shown in FIG. 5 the roller 90 is driven by anelectrical motor 72 through a belt and pulley drive 100 and a driveshaft 102, whereby after initial insertion of the composite web andcarrier product into the detaching apparatus the motor 72 may beenergized for automatic feeding of the composite envelope and carrierweb product through the detaching apparatus with the envelopes beingcollected in a longitudinally adjustable envelope catcher 104 havingupright stop pins 106 for catching the envelopes emerging from betweenthe roller and the backup wheel 92.

Inclined downwardly from the longitudinal path of the composite envelopeand carrier web product between the guides and adjacent the forward endof the parallel rails 74 is a transversely extending guide plate 110fixed between the upright stanchions 94. A second transversely extendingguide plate 112 partially overlapping the forward edge of the guideplate 110 but substantially forward thereof is mounted on a pair oflevers 114, 115 secured to an axle 116 rotatably mounted on thestanchions 94. A compression spring 117 is interposed between the lever114 and the adjacent stanchion 94 to urge the opposite lever 115 intoengagement with its adjacent stanchion whereby a locating pin 118 fixedto the lever 115 may be aligned with an opening 119 in the stanchion tolock the guide plate 112 in its normal operating position shown in FIG.5. However, by merely depressing the lever 114 against the compressionspring 117 and thereby moving the locating pin 118 out of the opening119 the guide plate 112 may be readily pivoted upwardly for theinsertion of the composite envelope and carrier web product. Thereafterthe guide plate 112 may be repositioned to displace the carrier web 12downwardly out of the plane of the guides 76, 78 to between thecooperating guide plates 110, 112. For this purpose the transverse guideplate 112 is made longitudinally adjustable on the arms 114, 115 by theprovision of slots 120 whereby the spacing between the transverse plates110, 112 may be adjusted to accommodate the movement of the carrier web12 therebetween. For providing a low friction surface, the transverseguide plate 112 may be covered with a suitable material 121, such as theaforementioned Teflon impregnated fiberglass.

The forward extension of the longitudinal path of travel of the carrierweb between the rails 74 is substantially tangential to the drive roller90, and the distance between the forward end of the rails 74 and theline of contact of the roller 90 and backup wheel 92 with the envelopes10 is less than the longitudinal width of the envelopes whereby thenormal rigidity of the envelopes 10 tends to cause them to break awayfrom the carrier web and thereafter automatically feed to between thedrive roller and backup wheel as the carrier web is deflected downwardlybetween the guide plates 110, 112. Once the leading edge of the envelopepasses between the drive roller 90 and the backup wheel 92, the rollerprovides for the continued feeding and stripping of the envelope fromthe carrier web.

Because of the thermoplastic characteristic of the adhesive originallyapplied to the envelopes 10, heat may be employed in the detachingapparatus 70 for releasing the envelopes from the carrier web, whichheating is also considered to effect further absorption of the adhesive.Each rail 74 has a pair of spaced heating elements associated with theguides 76, 78, for which purpose these guides are made of a materialhaving a high rate of thermoconduetivity, such as aluminum, for maximumtransmission of heat to the envelope and carrier web and to provide eventemperature distribution in the area of the applied stripe of adhesive.By providing heating elements of suitable length and capacity, thetemperature of the adhesive may be raised for releasing the envelopesfrom the carrier web.

To ensure adequate plasticity of the adhesive at the location where theenvelopes initially break away from the carrier web a transverselyextending heating element 131 is aflixed to the underside of thetransverse guide plate 110 for which purpose the guide plate 110 is alsopreferably constructed of a material with a high rate ofthermoconductivity, such as aluminum.

As the composite carrier web and envelope product is conveyed betweenthe rails 74 the temperature of the thermoplastic adhesive is raisedsufliciently to adequately release the envelopes, which release isautomatically accomplished when the carrier web is deflected downwardlyby the transverse guide plates 110, 112, the separation of the envelopesfrom the carrier web being due in part to the rigidity of the envelopes.

After removal of the envelopes from the carrier web, the envelopes arestacked in the catcher 104 and the carrier web is fed downwardly andwhere desirable is refolded in accordion fashion for facilitating itssubsequent handling.

Of significance to the successful attachment and detachment of theenvelopes to the carrier web is the choice of the thermoplastic adhesiveapplied to the envelope panels. In this regard, it has been found thataqueous dispersions of thermoplastic materials, particularly vinyls, canbe used with considerable success in the aforedescribed method toprovide an adhesive bond with suitable flexibility and elongationcharacteristics and with good absorption characteristics with paper.More specifically, adhesives utilizing polyvinyl acetate as either ahomo or copolymer thereof are particularly useful, especially when theadhesives are plasticized to reduce their plasticity temperature, as,for example, provided by internal plasticization.

In order to prevent marking of the envelopes by the adhesive, and inparticular where conventional white envelopes are employed, thethermoplastic adhesive employed is preferably colorless, i.e.,transparent, translucent or milky appearing, so that it will notdiscolor the envelopes notwithstanding the presence of a minute amountof the adhesive on the surface of the envelopes after they are removedfrom the carrier web.

With the spraying of a polyvinyl dispersion onto the envelope panels inthe manner described, and particularly where using an emulsion ofpolyvinyl acetate, it has been found that after the detachment of theenvelopes the envelopes are unimpaired by residual adhesive tackiness,the applied stripe of adhesive is noticeable only under very closeinspection, and the resulting envelopes are accordingly acceptable evenwhere the highest envelope quality and appearance is to be obtained.This result is considered to be due in part to the light film ofadhesive originally applied onto the envelopes by spraying and due inpart to the division and absorption of the adhesive when the adhesive isheated for releasing the envelopes. Moreover, it is considered that byapplying the adhesive by the aforementioned spraying technique, anadhesive bond with an irregular or intermittent edge is formed which,even if noticeable when the envelopes are subsequently detached from thecarrier web, is without a definitive boundary marring the appearance ofthe envelope.

Thus it can be seen that the method of the present invention providesfor attaching envelopes with end flaps or, in its more preferable usage,for attaching envelopes or other paper blanks of conventionalconstruction. Where envelopes or other paper blanks with end flaps areused, the subsequent severing of the envelope panels from the end flapsalong the lines of perforations is precisely accomplished and withoutremoving portions of the end flaps, in particular the leading edgeportions of the end flaps, with the removal of the envelope panels.

Where envelopes or other paper blanks of conventional constructionwithout end flaps are employed, the paper envelopes may nevertheless beadequately secured to the carrier web for feeding through a printingmachine and be subsequently removed from the carrier Web withoutobjectionable marring of the appearance or quality of the envelopes. Themethod is subject to the automatic attachment of the envelopes andsubsequent automatic removal of the envelopes by a detaching apparatusof the present invention capable of feeding the composite envelope andcarrier web product and successively removing and collecting theenvelopes at a high rate.

As will be apparent to persons skilled in the art, various modificationsand adaptations of the structure above described will become readilyapparent without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention,the scope of which is defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A method of attaching paper blanks in succession onto an elongatedsheet carrier web comprising the steps of longitudinally conveying paperblanks forwardly in succession along an elongated path, spraying into ajet intersecting the path of travel of the blanks an atomized dispersionof a thermoplastic adhesive for applying films of the dispersion ontodiscrete areas of the blanks as they are conveyed past the jet,longitudinally feeding a sheet carrier web with the blanks forward ofthe jet with the applied film in contact with the carrier web, heatingthe applied film for assisting in drying the dispersion and making theadhesive tacky, and pressing the blanks and carrier web together forsecurely bonding the blanks to the carrier web to form a compositeproduct therewith.

2. A method of attaching paper envelopes in succession onto an elongatedsheet carrier web, comprising the steps of longitudinally conveyingpaper envelopes forwardly in succession along an elongated path,spraying into a pair of transversely spaced jets intersecting the pathof travel of the envelopes an atomized aqueous dispersion of athermoplastic adhesive for applying films of the dispersion ontotransversely spaced areas of the envelopes as they are conveyed past thejets, longitudinally feeding a sheet carrier Web with the envelopesforward of the transversely spaced jets with the dispersion films incontact with the carrier web, and pressing the envelopes and carrier webtogether for bonding the envelopes to the carrier web to form acomposite product therewith.

3. A method of attaching a first absorbent paper article onto a secondabsorbent paper article providing a carrier web for said first absorbentpaper article, comprising the steps of spraying a film of an aqueousdispersion of a thermoplastic adhesive onto discrete areas of one of theabsorbent paper articles, bringing the absorbent paper articles togetherwith the dispersion film in contact with the other of the absorbentpaper articles, heating the dispersion film for assisting in drying thedispersion and making the adhesive tacky, and pressing the absorbentpaper articles together for securely bonding them together.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the film is sprayed onto discrete areasof the first absorbent paper article and wherein the thermoplasticadhesive includes plasticized polyvinyl plastics.

5. A method of attaching paper blanks in succession onto an elongatedsheet carrier web and of subsequently detaching the blanks from thecarrier web, comprising the steps of longitudinally conveying paperblanks forwardly in succession along an elongated path, spraying into apair of transversely spaced jets intersecting the path of travel of theblanks an atomized dispersion of a thermoplastic adhesive in water forapplying films of the dispersion onto transversely spaced discrete areasof the blanks as they are conveyed past the jets with the films havingedges of intermittent dots of the dispersion, longitudinally feeding asheet carrier web with the blanks forward of the transversely spacedjets with the films in contact with the carrier web, providing fordrying the dispersion and making the adhesive tacky, pressing the blanksand carrier web together for squeezing the tacky adhesive between theblanks and carrier Web and for securely bonding the blanks to thecarrier web to form a composite product therewith, and for detaching theblanks from the carrier web, feeding the composite blanks and carrierweb product along an elongated path, heating the applied adhesive forreducing the adhesive bond, and successively stripping the blanks fromthe carrier web.

6. A method of attaching absorbent paper blanks in succession onto anelongated absorbent paper carrier Web and of subsequently detaching theblanks from the carrier web, comprising the steps of longitudinallyconveying absorbent paper blanks forwardly in succession along anelongated path, spraying into a jet intersecting the path of travel ofthe blanks an atomized aqueous dispersion of a thermoplastic adhesivefor applying films of the dispersion onto discrete areas of the blanksas they are conveyed past the jet, longitudinally feeding an absorbentpaper carrier web with the blanks forward of the jet with the appliedfilm in contact with the carrier web, pressing the blanks and carrierweb together for bonding the blanks to the carrier web to form acomposite product therewith, and for detaching the blanks from thecarrier web, feeding the composite blanks and carrier web product alongan elongated path, heating the composite product at the discrete areasof the applied adhesive for softening the adhesive, and successivelystripping the blanks from the carrier Web.

7. A method of attaching paper blanks in succession onto an elongatedsheet carrier web for formng a composite envelope and carrier webproduct having utility inthe automatic printing of the paper blanks andof subsequently detaching the blanks from the carrier web, comprisingthe steps of applying onto spaced discrete areas of paper blanks a filmof a thermoplastic adhesive, applying the blanks onto a sheet carrierweb in succession with the applied film in contact with the carrier weband thereby bond the blanks onto the carrier web to form a compositeprod-uct therewith, and subsequent to the automatic printing of theblanks, heating the adhesive for softening the adhesive, and strippingthe blanks from the carrier web.

8. A method of attaching absorbent paper envelopes in succession onto anelongated absorbent paper carrier web for forming a composite envelopeand carrier web product having utility in the automatic printing ofenvelopes and of subsequent y detaching the envelopes from the carrierweb, comprising the steps of longitudinally conveying absorbent paperenvelopes forwardly in succession along an elongated path with theenvelope panels positioned transversely of the path and in longitudinalalignment, spraying into a pair of transversely spaced jets intersectingthe path of travel of the envelope panels an atomized aqueous dispersionof thermoplastic adhesive for applying films of the dispersion ontotransversely spaced discrete areas of the envelope panels as they areconveyed past the jets, longitudinally feeding an absorbent pa percarrier web with the envelopes forward of the transversely spaced jetswith the applied films in contact with the carrier web, pressing theenvelopes and carrier web together for bonding the envelopes onto thecarrier web to form a composite envelope and carrier web product, andsubsequent to the automatic printing of the envelopes, feeding thecomposite envelope and carrier web product along an elongated path,heating the adhesive for facilitating releasing the adhesive bond, andsuccessively detaching the envelopes from the carrier web.

9. A method of attaching absorbent paper envelopes in succession onto anelongated absorbent paper carrier web for forming a composite envelopeand carrier Web product having utility in the automatic printing ofenvelopes and of subsequently detaching the envelopes from the carrierweb, comprising the steps of longitudinally conveying absorbent paperenvelopes forwardly in succession along an elongated path with theenvelope panels positioned transversely of the path, continuouslyspraying into a pair of transversely spaced jets intersecting the pathof travel of the envelope panels an atomized substantially colorlessaqueous emulsion of thermoplastic polyvinyl adhesive for applying filmsof the emulsion in stripes onto the envelope panels as they are conveyedpast the jets with the stripes having transverse edges .of intermittentdots of the emulsion, longitudinally feeding forward of the transverselyspaced jets an absorbent paper carrier web with the suc cession ofenvelopes with the stripes of adhesive emulsion in contact with thecarrier web, simultaneously heating the stripes of adhesive emulsion andpressing the carrier web and envelopes together along the stripes ofadhesive for bonding the envelopes to the carrier Web, and subsequent tothe automatic printing of the envelopes, feeding the composite envelopeand carrier Web product along an elongated path, applying heat from bothsides of the composite product adjacent the stripes of adhesive forfacilitating releasing the adhesive bond, and successively detaching theenvelopes from the carrier web.

10. A method of attaching onto an elongated carrier web a succession ofenvelopes having separable paper end tabs to form a composite carrierweb and envelope product comprising, forwardly conveying in successionalong an elongated path a plurality of envelopes positioned with the endtabs at the transverse ends thereof and in longitudinal alignment,continuously spraying liquid adhesive upwardly into the path of travelof the separable end tabs for applying liquid adhesive along the fulllength thereof, forwardly conveying the envelopes in succession onto aforwardly moving carrier web with the adhesive applied to the end tabsin contact with the web, and applying pressure to the end tabs foradhering the envelopes to the carrier Web.

11. A method of attaching onto an elongated carrier Web a succession ofenvelopes having paper end tabs separable by lines of perforations toform a composite envelope and carrier web product comprising the stepsof, conveying a succession of envelopes along an elongated path with theenvelope panels positioned with' the tabs at the transverse ends thereofand in longitudinal alignment, continuously spraying upwardly into apair of transversely spaced jets intersecting the path of travel of theend tabs an atomized aqueous dispersion of adhesive for applying theadhesive dispersion in stripes along the full length of the end tabs,longitudinally feeding forward of the transversely spaced jets a papercarrier web together with the envelopes with the adhesive dispersionstripes in contact with the carrier web, and applying heat and pressureto the end tabs for adhering the envelopes to the carrier web.

12. An apparatus for detaching paper blanks from an elongated papercarrier web onto which the envelopes are attached in succession by athermoplastic adhesive on laterally spaced areas thereof to form acomposite product therewith, comprising a frame, a pair of elongatedtransversely spaced rails mounted on the frame having longitudinallyextending guides for closely guiding the composite product forwardly inan elongated path therealong and longitudinally extending heatingelements associated with the guides for applying heat through the guidesto the composite product at the laterally spaced areas of thermoplasticadhesive, means for feeding the composite product through the apparatus,and means providing for deflecting the carrier web .out of saidelongated path for assisting in stripping the paper blanks from thecarrier web.

13. An apparatus for detaching paper blanks from an elongated carrierweb onto which the blanks are attached in succession by thermoplasticadhesive on laterally spaced areas thereof to form a composite producttherewith useful in the printing of the blanks comprising, a frame, apair of elongated transversely spaced rails mounted on the frame havinga pair of opposed longitudinally extending guides for closely guidingthe composite product forwardly in an elongated path therealong andlongitudinally extending heating elements associated with the guides forapplying heat through the guides to the composite product at thelaterally spaced areas of thermoplastic adhesive, a transverse guideplate adjacent the forward end of the guides, a transverse heatingelement associated with the transverse guide plate for applying heatthrough the guide plate to the composite product, and means for feedingthe composite product along the elongated path and for deflecting thecarrier web out of the elongated path forward of the rails for assistingin stripping the blanks from the carrier web.

14. An apparatus for detaching envelopes from an elongated carrier webonto which the envelopes are attached in succession by thermoplasticadhesive on laterally spaced areas thereof to form a composite envelopeand carrier web product useful in the printing of the envelopescomprising, a frame, a pair of elongated transversely spaced railsmounted on the frame, each of the rails having a pair of opposedlongitudinally extending guides for closely guiding the compositeenvelope and carrier web product forwardly in an elongated paththerealong and longitudinally extending heating elements associated withthe guides for applying heat through the guides to the composite productat the laterally spaced areas of thermoplastic adhesive, a drive rollerand cooperating backup wheel means mounted on the frame forward of therails for rotation about transversely extending axes for receiving thecarrier web therebetween, a first transverse guide plate inclined tosaid elongated path from adjacent the forward end of the rails, atransverse heating element associated with the first transverse guideplate for applying heat through the first transverse guide plate to thecomposite product, a second transverse guide plate mounted on the framefor cooperation with the first transverse guide plate for deflecting thecarrier web out of said elongated path, and means for driving the driveroller for feeding the composite product through the apparatus.

15. An apparatus for detaching paper blanks from an elongated carrierweb onto which the paper blanks are attached in succession bythermoplastic adhesive on laterally spaced areas thereof to form acomposite product useful in the printing of the blanks comprising, aframe, a pair of elongated transversely spaced rails mounted on theframe, each of the rails having a pair of opposed longitudinallyextending guides for closely guiding the composite product forwardly inan elongated path therealong and longitudinally extending heatingelements associated with the guides for applying heat through the guidesto the composite product at the laterally spaced areas of thethermoplastic adhesive, a drive roller and cooperating backup wheelmeans mounted on the frame forward of the rails for rotation abouttransversely extending axes for receiving the carrier web and paperblanks therebetween forward of the guides and at a distance from theguides less than the longitudinal width of the paper blanks, means fordriving the drive roller for feeding the composite product through theapparatus, and means for deflecting the carrier web out of the elongatedpath forward of the rails for assisting in stripping the paper blanksfrom the carrier web.

16. An apparatus for detaching paper blanks from an elongated carrierweb onto which the paper blanks are attached in succession bythermoplastic adhesive on laterally spaced areas thereof to form acomposite product useful in the printing of the paper blanks comprising,a frame, a pair of elongated transversely spaced rails mounted on theframe, each of the rails having a pair of opposed longitudinallyextending guides for closely guiding the composite product forwardly inan elongated path therealong and longitudinally extending heatingelements associated with the guides for applying heat through the guidesto the composite product, means for transversely adjusting at least oneof the rails for positioning the guides into overlying relationship withthe laterally spaced areas of adhesive on the composite product, a driveroller and cooperating backup wheel means mounted on the frame forwardof the rails for rotation about transversely extending axes forreceiving the carrier web and envelopes therebetween forward of theguides and at a distance from the guides less than the longitudinalwidth of the paper blanks, a first transverse guide having a guidesurface inclined to said elongated path from adjacent the forward end ofthe rails, a transverse heating element associated with the firsttransverse guide for applying heat therethrough to the compositeproduct, a second transverse guide mounted on the frame for cooperationwith the first transverse guide for deflecting the carrier web out ofsaid elongated path, means for pivoting the second transverse guide outof cooperation with the first transverse guide for inserting thecomposite product into the apparatus, and means for driving the driveroller for feeding the composite product through the apparatus.

17. A method of attaching a first absorbent paper article onto a secondabsorbent paper article providing a carrier web for said first absorbentpaper article, comprising the steps of spraying a film of adhesive ontodiscrete areas of one of the absorbent paper articles, bringing theabsorbent paper articles together with the adhesive film in contact withthe other of the absorbent paper articles, and pressing the absorbentpaper articles together for securely bonding them together with theadhesive film.

18. A method of attaching sheet blanks in succession onto an elongatedsheet carrier web and of subsequently detaching the blanks from thecarrier web, comprising the steps of longitudinally conveying sheetblanks forwardly in succession along an elongated path, spraying into atleast one jet intersecting the path of travel of the blanks an adhesivefor applying films of the adhesive onto discrete areas of the blanks asthey are conveyed past the jet, longitudinally feeding a sheet carrierweb with the blanks forward of the jet with the films in contact withthe carrier web for bonding the blanks to the carrier web to form acomposite product therewith.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the spraying step comprises sprayingthe adhesive upwardly into a pair of transversely spaced jetsintersecting the path of travel of the blanks.

20. A method of attaching onto an elongated carrier web a succession ofenvelopes having separable end tabs to form a composite carrier web andenvelope product comprising, forwardly conveying in succession along anelongated generally horizontal path a plurality of env lopes positionedwith end tabs at the transverse ends thereof and in longitudinalalignment, spraying adhesive upwardly into the path of travel of theseparable end tabs for applying liquid adhesive thereon, and forwardlyconveying the envelopes in succession onto a forwardly moving carrierweb with the adhesive applied to the end tabs in contact with the webfor adhering the envelopes thereto.

21. A method of attaching individual sheet elements in succession ontoan elongated sheet element providing a carrier Web and for forming acomposite product thereof with discrete areas of the individual sheetelements adhering to discrete areas of the carrier web comprising thesteps of spraying an adhesive film onto discrete areas, and bringing theindividual sheet elements together with the carrier web with the sheetelements in succession therealong and the adhesive providing a bondbetween the discrete areas of the sheet element and the discrete areasof the carrier web to form said composite product.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the spraying step comprises sprayingan atomized adhesive onto discrete areas.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,696,449 12/1954 Ericks et al1l7l05.3 2,892,735 6/1959 Curler et al 117158 X 3,079,979 3/1963 Flood156-542 3,196,069 7/1965 Froehling 156547 3,200,719 8/1965 Welch 156-541X 3,226,910 1/1966 Stetfey l56302 X EARL M. BERGERT, Primary Examiner.

M. L. KATZ, Assistant Examiner.

